Saw the surgeon today, after my night shift....
And he said that I was healed enough that he cut my fistula string!!!!!! I'm done with it.
I never thought it would happen. It's felt like it's been FOREVER and a day since this all started.
He said I don't need to see him again....
Unless I develop another abcess (good God I sure hope not!!!) or if the fistula doesn't close up properly and I am still getting discharge and pain in a month from now.
He gave me another month of short weeks for work but then I should be back to work regular schedule!
Showing posts with label fistula. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fistula. Show all posts
Monday, March 31, 2014
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Not just an ordinary infection
So a week's worth of pain, once I got back home the next day I had an appointment with my surgeon.
Turns out I have a NEW abcess. UGH! When I knew that I was right, I started crying. I was FINALLY starting to heal (somewhat anyways) or at least experiencing less pain, I go two steps backwards.
I knew from talking to the surgeon's receptionist that he wasn't back in his clinic for almost a month and so I asked when he was on-call again at the hospital. Figured that if I had to have an incision & drainage (I&D) that I would prefer to have MY surgeon do it. Turns out he was on-call that very same day.
I just had to head to the hospital while he was on-call. Then once there I had to wait another 2 1/2 hours for him to show up.
He was able to do the procedure and while he tried to be more empathetic and caring - I requested morphine so he gave me 4mg SC of it. And he tried to make sure I was good and frozen. Ya it didn't help much. Holy hell did it hurt!!! Then he gave me another 4mg of the morphine post procedure considering I was crying it hurt so much.
Now two days out, the surgeon actually called me this morning to ask how I was doing!!! How sweet eh?! I guess I must have made a bit of an impression. LOL
I have to see him again Monday for a follow-up. I also have to have home-care though in a clinic to pack the wound. Hurt the last time so I don't expect anything different this time around.
Surgeon says he won't know whether a fistula formed for another week or two. My goodness I hope and pray I didn't.
Turns out I have a NEW abcess. UGH! When I knew that I was right, I started crying. I was FINALLY starting to heal (somewhat anyways) or at least experiencing less pain, I go two steps backwards.
I knew from talking to the surgeon's receptionist that he wasn't back in his clinic for almost a month and so I asked when he was on-call again at the hospital. Figured that if I had to have an incision & drainage (I&D) that I would prefer to have MY surgeon do it. Turns out he was on-call that very same day.
I just had to head to the hospital while he was on-call. Then once there I had to wait another 2 1/2 hours for him to show up.
He was able to do the procedure and while he tried to be more empathetic and caring - I requested morphine so he gave me 4mg SC of it. And he tried to make sure I was good and frozen. Ya it didn't help much. Holy hell did it hurt!!! Then he gave me another 4mg of the morphine post procedure considering I was crying it hurt so much.
Now two days out, the surgeon actually called me this morning to ask how I was doing!!! How sweet eh?! I guess I must have made a bit of an impression. LOL
I have to see him again Monday for a follow-up. I also have to have home-care though in a clinic to pack the wound. Hurt the last time so I don't expect anything different this time around.
Surgeon says he won't know whether a fistula formed for another week or two. My goodness I hope and pray I didn't.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
ANOTHER infection???!!!
The day we were supposed to leave my pain started to increase - always indicative of an infection. The tract felt like it was getting more and more swollen so i went to my family doctor's walk-in and saw the Dr there. She agress, another infection rearing it's ugly head.
Now I'm on Keflex - this makes my SIXTH antibiotic in less than 4 months. UGH when will this end??!!
I'm on vacation - I shouldn't have to deal with this crap. I however, am starting to wonder whether it IS the tract or whether I've developed another fistula because what I'm feeling is a hard lump at the top - but when I press on it (not hard cuz it hurts MASSIVELY) there's no discharge. So I'm at a loss. Hubby says to wait and try to let the antibiotic work and not head off to the ER here. Ya we'll see.
Anyone have any suggestions??? \the sitz baths aren't doign anything - certainly aren't helping with pain or burning or itching. Clearly they aren't helping with the infection. The keflex I've been taking now for 24 hrs - and that hasn't done anything yet. I just want the pain to stop. Ibuprofen isn't really helping. I don't want to be put back on the morphine if I can help it.
Now I'm on Keflex - this makes my SIXTH antibiotic in less than 4 months. UGH when will this end??!!
I'm on vacation - I shouldn't have to deal with this crap. I however, am starting to wonder whether it IS the tract or whether I've developed another fistula because what I'm feeling is a hard lump at the top - but when I press on it (not hard cuz it hurts MASSIVELY) there's no discharge. So I'm at a loss. Hubby says to wait and try to let the antibiotic work and not head off to the ER here. Ya we'll see.
Anyone have any suggestions??? \the sitz baths aren't doign anything - certainly aren't helping with pain or burning or itching. Clearly they aren't helping with the infection. The keflex I've been taking now for 24 hrs - and that hasn't done anything yet. I just want the pain to stop. Ibuprofen isn't really helping. I don't want to be put back on the morphine if I can help it.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Surgery is a sure bet and so was an ER visit
Saw the surgeon the other day - was told surgery is in the cards for me.
Upon examination he indicated that due to the fact that the fistula is anterior and goes towards my vagina, that he has to go for the seton - a piece of material that essentially cuts out the tunnel and it fills in with scar tissue - we'll see how painful THAT one is!!!
I've been generally pain free for a about 2 weeks - but I have flare ups, especially if I'm too active. Bites me in the ass unexpectadly.
Home care discharged me from their services wed, said my wound was completely healed.
Thurs was a different story. Went for BM about 2200hrs and was a bit painful (sorry if TMI) and felt like I was getting another abcess or if the previous abcess was recurring and figured that I would just contact the surgeon in the AM to see if something could be done about it. Well by about 0400hrs, my pain became a 8/10 and I was crying. Off hubby and I go to the ER where I wait FIVE hours to be seen. Ugh it was rough! I sent hubby home at about 0600hrs figuring it was going to be quite some time before I saw a surgeon. Found a couple of sheets in the ER and laid on the waiting room floor - one sheet under me (protection against all the icky things on the floor that I would rather not have thought about) and one on top cuz I was cold! Plus a pillow out of my purse and my sweater and tried to not vomit everywhere from the amount of pain that I was in.
Finally saw the physician who kept interrupting me while I was giving him the background info (had he NOT ever heard of SBAR??!!) and told him why I was there. He asked a couple of questions, did a rectal exam and said he couldn't feel anything... UGH, just like the LAST ER doc who examined me almost 2 months ago and then gave me a surgeon consult who said that I DID have an abcess. This time around though, this doc ordered a CT scan which indicated that my abcess IS heal(ing)ed but that I have TWO fistulas and that CT scans are not good enough to visualize and that I should have an MRI scan done.
Doc explained that my pain was likely due to infection of the fistula(s) and gave me a loading dose of 2g Ancef IV at 1100hrs and ordered home care for the next 5 days for the antibiotic. Well home care couldn't get arranged in time so they gave me another loading dose of 2g of Ancef at 1700hrs hoping that I would get my AM dose on time. I didn't BTW, my supplies arrived at 1700hrs TODAY and so I hung my home dose by myself. I already had my SL in as the ER left it in for this purpose and I had no idea when the nurse was supposed to be by and so I did it all myself. When the nurse DID finally come around (I believe it was around 1900hrs) I just explained that I did it myself and her services wouldn't be required again unless the site went interstitial or the 5 days was up and she had to collect her stuff.
I have to contact the surgeon on monday and find out if this changes anything. Surgery is set for Sept. 04 but he said that he wants to do a sigmoidoscopy before hand. WE'll see how that changes now that we have the CT done.
Upon examination he indicated that due to the fact that the fistula is anterior and goes towards my vagina, that he has to go for the seton - a piece of material that essentially cuts out the tunnel and it fills in with scar tissue - we'll see how painful THAT one is!!!
I've been generally pain free for a about 2 weeks - but I have flare ups, especially if I'm too active. Bites me in the ass unexpectadly.
Home care discharged me from their services wed, said my wound was completely healed.
Thurs was a different story. Went for BM about 2200hrs and was a bit painful (sorry if TMI) and felt like I was getting another abcess or if the previous abcess was recurring and figured that I would just contact the surgeon in the AM to see if something could be done about it. Well by about 0400hrs, my pain became a 8/10 and I was crying. Off hubby and I go to the ER where I wait FIVE hours to be seen. Ugh it was rough! I sent hubby home at about 0600hrs figuring it was going to be quite some time before I saw a surgeon. Found a couple of sheets in the ER and laid on the waiting room floor - one sheet under me (protection against all the icky things on the floor that I would rather not have thought about) and one on top cuz I was cold! Plus a pillow out of my purse and my sweater and tried to not vomit everywhere from the amount of pain that I was in.
Finally saw the physician who kept interrupting me while I was giving him the background info (had he NOT ever heard of SBAR??!!) and told him why I was there. He asked a couple of questions, did a rectal exam and said he couldn't feel anything... UGH, just like the LAST ER doc who examined me almost 2 months ago and then gave me a surgeon consult who said that I DID have an abcess. This time around though, this doc ordered a CT scan which indicated that my abcess IS heal(ing)ed but that I have TWO fistulas and that CT scans are not good enough to visualize and that I should have an MRI scan done.
Doc explained that my pain was likely due to infection of the fistula(s) and gave me a loading dose of 2g Ancef IV at 1100hrs and ordered home care for the next 5 days for the antibiotic. Well home care couldn't get arranged in time so they gave me another loading dose of 2g of Ancef at 1700hrs hoping that I would get my AM dose on time. I didn't BTW, my supplies arrived at 1700hrs TODAY and so I hung my home dose by myself. I already had my SL in as the ER left it in for this purpose and I had no idea when the nurse was supposed to be by and so I did it all myself. When the nurse DID finally come around (I believe it was around 1900hrs) I just explained that I did it myself and her services wouldn't be required again unless the site went interstitial or the 5 days was up and she had to collect her stuff.
I have to contact the surgeon on monday and find out if this changes anything. Surgery is set for Sept. 04 but he said that he wants to do a sigmoidoscopy before hand. WE'll see how that changes now that we have the CT done.
Monday, July 8, 2013
A bit on the personal side
Well considering I'll never meet anyone who actually reads the stuff I post, I figured I would tell ya something a bit personal about myself... not to divulge personal information but to educate about different things that can happen - considering I'm experiencing it first hand
For a couple of months now I've been dealing with constipation - back when I was a teenager I was diagnosed with IBS (Inflammatory bowel syndrome - neither crohns or colitis definatively) and have swung from constipation to diarrhea and therefore can't try any of the meds that would help me because you have to be on one side or the other for the majority of time. Several weeks ago it became pretty bad that I developed a hemorrhoid and tried OTC stuff that never seemed to help so I sought out my family physician (FP) who gave me soemthing to try. I did so for about a week and then I developed this bump on my left buttock next to my rectum. I wait another day and a half and then it just became more and more painful. Being a nurse I *knew* that it was a rectal abcess so off I went to my FP walk-in clinic to ask for antibiotics - turns out that he figured that I also had a fistula and required an ER visit.
Off I go to my hospital (cuz I figured that if I had to be admitted or potentially have surgery) I would rather it be done at my own hospital and that way I wouldn't be stuck in a ward room. I was given a letter from the walk-in physician and waited about an hour to be triaged then another 30 min to see the nurse and have my vitals taken as well as a prelim history and then another 20 min to be registered then immediately brought to acute care in the emerge then I waited another 30ish minutes to see the ER doc and have him examine my tush who then said that he didn't feel anything (which made me flabbergasted cuz it felt huge to me!) and said that he would get a surgeon's consult and that took another 45 min who told me exactly what I already knew - I had a rectal abcess and his belief was that I also had a fistula - based on the fact that I had serosanginous fluid discharge from my rectum. He prescribed me antibiotics and I have to see him in 2 weeks.
He didn't tell me what the antibiotics were for (Cipro & Flagyl) because antibiotics can't treat an abcess (being that it's a local infection not a systemic infection) - so I figured that they're to treat any fecal infection I may have that I'm a carrier for and that that should indirectly help the fistula - who knows!
Being on the antibiotics has been rough. I have been severely nauseous, light-headed, dizzy, and weak - I feel like I have the flu. So hubby suggested that I go off them for one day and see how I feel... I listened to him and yet I still feel the same way 36+hrs later - so off I went back to the hospital cuz I can't very well stay this way. How the HELL am I supposed to take care of others when I feel like the room is spinning around me or that I very well may vomit all over them?! 8 hrs later, I'm no better really. No definitive answers either. ER doc told me to stop taking the meds and that my Sx should just stop all on their own - that although I have been taking these meds properly (BID & TID) that I have developed a UTI - like how the HELL did I develop that while being on antibiotics that TREAT that?! AND being a muslim I wash myself with water and make sure I'm EXTREMELY clean in the nether regions so WHAT THE HELL?????!!!! ER doc won't treat because I have no fever and I don't burn when I pee (told u it was a personal post!) and so he's just going to leave well enough alone - not that THAT makes sense to me but hey, I'm not a Dr!
Now I wait around, feeling useless (and everyone around this house telling me I am!) and wait til I see the surgeon later this week. Oh ya, did I mention that while being off the antibiotics that I feel like the abcess has gotten bigger and is producing more pus?! UGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH
For a couple of months now I've been dealing with constipation - back when I was a teenager I was diagnosed with IBS (Inflammatory bowel syndrome - neither crohns or colitis definatively) and have swung from constipation to diarrhea and therefore can't try any of the meds that would help me because you have to be on one side or the other for the majority of time. Several weeks ago it became pretty bad that I developed a hemorrhoid and tried OTC stuff that never seemed to help so I sought out my family physician (FP) who gave me soemthing to try. I did so for about a week and then I developed this bump on my left buttock next to my rectum. I wait another day and a half and then it just became more and more painful. Being a nurse I *knew* that it was a rectal abcess so off I went to my FP walk-in clinic to ask for antibiotics - turns out that he figured that I also had a fistula and required an ER visit.
Off I go to my hospital (cuz I figured that if I had to be admitted or potentially have surgery) I would rather it be done at my own hospital and that way I wouldn't be stuck in a ward room. I was given a letter from the walk-in physician and waited about an hour to be triaged then another 30 min to see the nurse and have my vitals taken as well as a prelim history and then another 20 min to be registered then immediately brought to acute care in the emerge then I waited another 30ish minutes to see the ER doc and have him examine my tush who then said that he didn't feel anything (which made me flabbergasted cuz it felt huge to me!) and said that he would get a surgeon's consult and that took another 45 min who told me exactly what I already knew - I had a rectal abcess and his belief was that I also had a fistula - based on the fact that I had serosanginous fluid discharge from my rectum. He prescribed me antibiotics and I have to see him in 2 weeks.
He didn't tell me what the antibiotics were for (Cipro & Flagyl) because antibiotics can't treat an abcess (being that it's a local infection not a systemic infection) - so I figured that they're to treat any fecal infection I may have that I'm a carrier for and that that should indirectly help the fistula - who knows!
Being on the antibiotics has been rough. I have been severely nauseous, light-headed, dizzy, and weak - I feel like I have the flu. So hubby suggested that I go off them for one day and see how I feel... I listened to him and yet I still feel the same way 36+hrs later - so off I went back to the hospital cuz I can't very well stay this way. How the HELL am I supposed to take care of others when I feel like the room is spinning around me or that I very well may vomit all over them?! 8 hrs later, I'm no better really. No definitive answers either. ER doc told me to stop taking the meds and that my Sx should just stop all on their own - that although I have been taking these meds properly (BID & TID) that I have developed a UTI - like how the HELL did I develop that while being on antibiotics that TREAT that?! AND being a muslim I wash myself with water and make sure I'm EXTREMELY clean in the nether regions so WHAT THE HELL?????!!!! ER doc won't treat because I have no fever and I don't burn when I pee (told u it was a personal post!) and so he's just going to leave well enough alone - not that THAT makes sense to me but hey, I'm not a Dr!
Now I wait around, feeling useless (and everyone around this house telling me I am!) and wait til I see the surgeon later this week. Oh ya, did I mention that while being off the antibiotics that I feel like the abcess has gotten bigger and is producing more pus?! UGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH
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